Guillermo del Toro served as an executive producer on Mama, a spooky tale about two young girls found living feral in the woods after being abandoned for five years. When their uncle takes them in, they bring with them a protective, but terrifying, spectral entity they call 'Mama'.

The film blends elements of haunted house horror with a creature feature, creating a unique and often unsettling atmosphere. Jessica Chastain stars as the reluctant guardian who must confront the jealous and dangerous presence that has claimed the children as its own. It's a film that explores the darker side of maternal instinct through a supernatural lens.

Ari Aster's feature debut, Hereditary, is a relentless and deeply disturbing portrait of a family unraveling after a death, revealing sinister secrets linked to their ancestry. While not a traditional ghost story, it involves malevolent supernatural entities and spiritual forces that plague the characters.

Anchored by a powerhouse performance from Toni Collette, the film is a masterclass in building unbearable tension and dread. It explores themes of grief, trauma, and inherited fate with unflinching intensity. Fun fact: The miniature houses built by Toni Collette's character, Annie, are used extensively throughout the film, serving as both a narrative device and a visual metaphor for the family's trapped existence.

The Ring brought J-horror to mainstream American audiences with terrifying effect. This remake follows a journalist investigating a cursed videotape that causes the viewer to die seven days after watching it, stalked by the terrifying spirit of Samara Morgan.

Directed by Gore Verbinski, the film is drenched in a chilling, desaturated aesthetic and features some truly iconic and disturbing imagery, particularly the appearance of Samara herself. The mystery surrounding the tape and Samara's origins is compelling, and the film successfully taps into primal fears about media and technology. It's a horror film that leaves a lasting, unsettling impression.

Ghost Stories is a clever and genuinely unsettling anthology film based on the acclaimed stage play of the same name. Written and directed by the play's creators, Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman (who also stars), the film follows a professor who debunks paranormal hoaxes, only to be challenged by three cases that defy rational explanation.

Each story offers a different flavor of ghost encounter, from classic poltergeist activity to more psychological manifestations. The film excels at building dread and delivering sharp scares, all while weaving a larger narrative that explores themes of guilt, trauma, and the nature of belief. It's a British horror gem that's both scary and thought-provoking.

Based on the widely publicized story of the Snedeker family, The Haunting in Connecticut brings a supposedly true haunting to the screen. When a family moves to Connecticut for their son's cancer treatment, they discover their new home has a dark past – it was once a funeral home, and not all its former residents have moved on.

While taking creative liberties with the 'true' story, the film effectively uses its setting and the premise of a house with a history of death to create a creepy atmosphere. Virginia Madsen leads the cast as the mother desperately trying to protect her family from the supernatural forces within the house.

From the creators of Saw and The Conjuring comes Insidious, a chilling journey into the astral plane known as 'The Further'. When a young boy falls into a coma, his parents discover his consciousness is trapped in this terrifying dimension, attracting all sorts of unwelcome spiritual entities to their home.

Director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell crafted a film that blends classic haunted house tropes with a unique mythology. It's known for its sudden, jarring scares and the introduction of iconic horror figures like the Lipstick-Face Demon. The film successfully balances atmospheric tension with moments of pure, terrifying shock.

Jump into the terrifying world of Ed and Lorraine Warren with The Conjuring, the film that kicked off a massive cinematic universe! Directed by horror maestro James Wan, this movie is based on one of the most famous cases investigated by the real-life paranormal investigators, involving a family tormented by a powerful, malevolent entity in their new farmhouse.

Wan opted for practical effects and old-school horror techniques over CGI, creating a genuinely unsettling atmosphere and delivering some truly effective scares. The period setting of the 1970s adds an extra layer of isolation and dread, making the Perron family's plight feel all the more real and terrifying. It's a modern horror benchmark.

M. Night Shyamalan's breakout hit, The Sixth Sense, is more than just a movie with a famous twist; it's a poignant and genuinely unnerving look at grief, isolation, and the unseen world. Bruce Willis plays a child psychologist trying to help a young boy (Haley Joel Osment, in an incredibly mature performance) who claims he can see and talk to dead people.

The film is celebrated for its quiet dread and emotional depth as much as its supernatural elements. It earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Director, and Original Screenplay, a rare feat for a horror film. The performances, particularly Osment's, are truly outstanding and central to the film's enduring impact.

Nicole Kidman delivers a captivating performance in The Others, a gothic ghost story that builds tension with exquisite patience. Set on the foggy island of Jersey after World War II, the film follows a mother protecting her photosensitive children from sunlight and, seemingly, from unwelcome spectral guests.

Director Alejandro Amenábar crafted a film steeped in atmosphere and mystery, paying homage to classic ghost stories while adding his own unique, haunting touch. Fun fact: The film was shot almost entirely in sequence, which is quite rare and likely helped the actors maintain the building psychological tension. It's a film that begs for a rewatch to appreciate its layered narrative.

Forget jump scares; The Haunting from 1963 is a masterclass in psychological dread and atmosphere. Directed by Robert Wise and based on Shirley Jackson's chilling novel The Haunting of Hill House, this black and white gem proves that what you don't see can be far scarier than what you do.

The film relies heavily on unsettling sound design, skewed camera angles, and the power of suggestion to make Hill House feel like a genuinely malevolent entity. It explores themes of loneliness and instability through its characters, particularly Eleanor Vance, whose fragile state makes her susceptible to the house's influence. It's a foundational text for haunted house cinema, proving terror can be purely psychological.

Step into the suburban nightmare that is Poltergeist, a film that defined haunted house horror for a generation. Produced and co-written by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, this movie masterfully blends suburban idyllic life with terrifying paranormal chaos.

Did you know that despite Tobe Hooper being the credited director, there's long been debate and speculation about Spielberg's significant hands-on involvement during filming? Regardless, the result is a chilling classic featuring iconic scares like the static-filled TV, the menacing tree, and the terrifying clown doll. It's a roller coaster of practical effects and genuine frights that still holds up today.